Acsension
by archard-winchester
Summary: His work was done. His part in the story was over. But the story itself wasn't finished. And someone had to take his place. Set after 6x11, so might contain spoilers. Warning: mentions of highly addictive subject matter.


**Disclaimer:** I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them. Oh, another thing. The author will not be held liable for any addictions resulting from the perusal of this piece of fan-fiction. Ye be warned.

**Summary**: His work was done. His part in the story was over. But the story itself wasn't finished. And someone had to take his place.

**A/N**: This idea came to me from what I've been reading in so many forums and groups about Supernatural Season 6 and how many fans are turning to Fringe instead. I tried watching Fringe and I got bored before the first season was over. I think it was the inconsistencies in science that turned me off. For the record, I don't think that Sera Gamble is doing a terrible job with the show. The general consensus seems to be that Dean is being shoved in the background for the sake of giving Sam a story, which I don't agree with. I think that Dean has got a pretty strong story line of his own, maybe even better that he had in some of the previous seasons. The only issue that I have is the way other characters seem to treat Dean while Sam is treated much more sympathetically. But that has been true for all the previous seasons as well. Within the show's universe, everyone has been much harsher towards Dean, but that doesn't lessen his role. Anyway, this is a funny little idea that came to me when I read one of the reviews for my other story, where someone said that the new season was like seeing fanfics written by Becky the fangirl. So I thought what if it was true?

* * *

"Why the hell do I have to come with you?" Dean asked, irritably. "You can shop for books on your own. Why the hell do you even want to read books?"

Sam stopped dragging his brother along the street for a moment and turned around to address the issue. Dean could swear that Sam's puppy-dog eyes were a skill that only his soul knew. Because the look he hadn't seen for more than a year was back in full-force.

"I don't complain when you drag me to bars. Or when you took me to that antique car-show last week and I had to endure three hours of you talking about how this felt like cheating on your baby." Sam said. "I just want to visit a book-store. Is that so bad?"

"Why can't you read pirated e-books off the internet?" Dean asked. "Buying hard-covers just isn't done anymore."

"Says the guy who still has a cassette player in his car." Sam smirked back. "Besides, it feels different to have an actual book in your hands. And I haven't read a book since forever and I miss it. So just shut up and help me find a new copy of Lord of The Rings."

Dean sighed. He would never admit it but he had missed this version of his brother. One who, inspite of all he had been through, could still enjoy the company of good literature from time to time. One who actually wanted to include Dean in his interests as well. Usually it was just Dean dragging Sam to do the things he liked, trying to share his interests with his brother. It was nice to see the gesture being reciprocated.

"Fine." Dean acquiesced. "I'll see if they have some good old hard rock as well. If I have to spend three hours while you bury your head in boring literature, I'm not doing it in a place without some Zeppelin."

Sam smiled at his brother's admission, opening the door to the bookstore and leading them in. Dean always did that. Pretending that even looking at a book cover that didn't have anything to cars or porn made you a nerd.

"You are not fooling me, Dean." Sam said. "I know that you happen to enjoy a good book as much as the next guy. I know that inspite of your redneck attitude towards reading, you are very well-versed in modern literature. So stop acting like a book-dumb ass and try to find something you'd like to read yourself. So that you don't have to resort to stealing my books later on."

Sam walked off to the fiction section without waiting for Dean's reply and Dean followed, smiling softly to himself. The long game of book-smart and street-smart they'd played with each-other for years seemed to be finally over. Sam had taken Dean's lack of interest in school to mean his lack of interest in anything remotely academic and Dean had cultivated that assumption. But now, years and quite a few surprise revelations later, Sam had realized that his brother was surprisingly erudite. That had given Sam a greater appreciation of his brother's qualities and damn if Dean wasn't happy about that. Walking down to the aisle behind Sam, Dean picked up a magazine and flipped through the pages looking for any interesting article.

"I don't fucking believe this." Sam's outraged voice drew Dean's attention back to his brother. Only Sammy could get this worked up over a stupid book, Dean thought to himself as he looked up.

"What's the matter Samantha? They canceled Cosmo?" Dean asked, laughing to himself on the joke. "Really Sam, you - ."

Dean's words were cut short as his eyes fell on the book Sam was holding up. A standard paperback with two leads on the cover and bold letters superposed on broken glass proclaiming the title to be 'Supernatural'. Even though seeing one of their books on the stand always came as a rude shock, that was not what had evoked the strong response from Sam. The sub-title of the book, 'Exile on the Main Street', hadn't been one that either of them had heard before.

"What the hell?" Dean asked.

"'Supernatural: The critically acclaimed series about two brothers by Carver Edlund'." Sam read the back cover of the book out loud. "'Sam tried to give Dean something that his brother had always been denied: a chance at normal life. But when something finds Dean and his family and the hunter becomes the hunted, will Sam be able to save his brother in time?' Dean, this is a new one. It's about after the apocalypse."

Dean looked at the book, horrified. That bastard, he'd promised he'd stop publishing. Promised, under the threat of grievous bodily harm. And now the books were coming out again?

"I'm gonna kill Chuck." Dean snarled.

* * *

The Impala sped down the interstate, hitting a pot-hole and making one of its passengers nearly hit his head on the roof.

"Slow down, will you?" Sam said. "I'm trying to read here."

"No, I'll not slow down." Dean replied. "If I slow down, it will take longer to kill Chuck and I don't want to wait that long. Why the hell are you reading that crap anyway? It's not like you don't know what happens."

"I don't know, something is different about these books." Sam explained. "It's like, they have been written by a different person altogether."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked. "Chuck was a pretty bad writer to begin with. Are you telling me that they have gotten better?"

"No. The books are as bad as ever." Sam replied. "But the writing style is different. The story follows the real thing pretty accurately, but, I don't know, it just feels different."

"Care to explain?"

"Well, for one, the Ho-Yay factor has been cranked up to eleven." Sam replied.

"Ho-Yay? What the hell is that?"

"You know." Sam said, gesturing frantically between them. Seeing that Dean was still confused, he explained. "Homoerotic Sexual Tension."

"Huh?" Dean said, as if he was deliberately avoiding understanding.

"Let me show you." Sam said, opening the book and reading a passage aloud. "'Dean hugged his brother tightly. He'd missed this, missed holding his Sammy in his arms. Sam smiled to himself and reciprocated the hug, breathing in the scent that was uniquely Dean's. The scent of leather and gun-powder and motor-oil, something that all their time apart could never erase from his memory'."

"What the hell?" Dean said, outraged. "You were sniffing me?"

"What? No. Gross." Sam replied. "I was soulless then. But even if I wasn't, I'd never want to smell you, no matter how long we'd been apart."

"It says so in the book." Dean argued.

"It's called artistic license, Dean." Sam explained.

"Well, that artist is taking licenses with our life." Dean replied. "How far the books have gotten?"

"Well, the latest book is about the time we went after the Staff of Moses." Sam said, throwing the book he had in the backseat and picking up another one. He flipped it open to a page. "Listen to this. It's about the time Castiel finally showed up. 'The angel's eyes bore into Dean as if reaching his very soul. Castiel had always had this effect on Dean, this slightly unnerving and uncomfortable rise of unnatural emotions. Dean suspected that on some level, these feelings were reciprocated, but they could never act on those.'."

"Are you trying to get me to crash the car?" Dean said, slightly panicked. "So, what, according to the book, I have hots for you and for Castiel?"

"Apparently every guy has hots for every other guy. And don't even get me started on myself." Sam added. "You know how Chuck wrote your sex-scene back in one of the first books."

"Where I was full-frontal? Yeah." Dean replied.

"Well, I have one that is much more explicit. This one is definitely NSFW" Sam continued. "And after that, there are two solid pages on just me working out. It's blatant fanservice."

"What? What are those things?"

"Nevermind." Sam replied. "Suffice to say that Chuck is focusing a lot on the guy parts rather that the girl's."

"He's dead. You hear me, Chuck Shirley is dead." Dean said with conviction. "We are going to walk in there and blow his head off, arch-angel or no arch-angel."

"Yeah." Sam agreed. "Just one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to shoot him first."

* * *

Sam rang the doorbell to Chuck Shirley's house, hoping desperately that the prophet hadn't seen them coming and skipped town. The door opened and before he could react, Sam was enveloped in a hug.

"You came." A high-pitched squeak told him. "I mean, ofcourse I saw this coming but you are really here. In flesh."

"Becky?" Sam said, surprised. Becky released him and went towards Dean, who, having had a chance to prepare himself, held her away with an outstretched arm.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked. "I thought you and Chuck broke up."

"We did. I live here now." Becky replied. "C'mon in guys."

Sam and Dean followed the girl inside, shooting each-other confused glances.

"Becky, we are looking for Chuck." Dean said. "You know where he is?"

"No, I don't." Becky answered. "No one does, actually. Personally, I think he has ascended to a higher plane of existence."

"What? You mean he's dead?" Dean asked.

"No, ofcourse not." Becky replied. "He just moved to a higher plane."

"What is she talking about?" Dean looked at his brother. "Chuck moved or something? Where is he? Colorado?"

"No, it's a metaphor, Dean." Sam explained. "It means achieving Nirvana or something."

"You mean like Buddha?" Dean asked. "That drunk, sexed-up guy got enlightened or something?"

"I don't know." Sam replied. "Becky, where is he? And don't tell me you don't know. It's important. He has started publishing the books again."

"No, he hasn't." Becky said with barely contained excitement.

"We saw the books." Sam said, holding up his copy of 'The Third Man'. "We need to find him and tell him to stop writing."

"_He_ hasn't been writing, Sam." Becky replied. "I have."

"What?"

"Isn't it awesome? I'm Carver Edlund now." Becky squealed.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. Both of them were now thoroughly confused.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the prophet now." Becky explained. "Ever since Chuck disappeared and the whole apocalypse thing got over, I have been getting the visions of your life. When Chuck disappeared, he left the intellectual property rights to me, his biggest fan and for some reason, the angels chose me to continue his work. So I have been writing it all down and sending it to the publishers."

"Are you kidding me?" Dean said. "They just made you the prophet? Just giving the bloody title away."

This wasn't possible, Sam thought, and yet, it made sense. The books did seem to be written by a different person. And judging by the writing style, Becky as the author made perfect sense.

"So, you are the one who put in all the Ho-Yay." Sam said.

"You noticed." Becky squeaked. "But it's not exactly Ho-Yay. The correct term would be Bro-Yay."

"You are kidding?" Sam said. "There is a category for that now?"

"What – what category?" Dean asked, getting confused again. "What are you guys talking about?"

"It's so exciting." Becky said, ignoring Dean. "I'm a real life Ascended Fangirl. And as if that wasn't enough, now I get to go Meta. This book is so gonna rock."

"Huh?" Dean said, now thoroughly lost.

"They are literary terms." Sam said, offhandedly. "Becky, you need to stop publishing right now. No more books, you understand?"

"Why?"

"Why? Because it's our lives you are writing about." Sam replied in a vaguely threatening voice. "Bad things might happen to you if you keep this up."

"You don't scare me Sam Winchester." Becky replied, brightly. "You can make all the threats you want but I know that you happen to be a gentle, loving soul who wouldn't harm a hair on my head. It might have been different a few weeks ago when you didn't have your soul."

"How do you know that I have it now?" Sam snarled.

"Prophet, remember." Becky replied. "I'm kinda disappointed I missed meeting you then. Soulless Sam sounded like a real animal. I'd have loved to let you have your way with me."

Sam looked disquieted when Becky covered the distance between them and put her hand on his chest. The girl was totally and completely crazy, Dean thought. Well, if being straightforward wasn't going to work with this loon then they'd have to get creative. And a little devious.

"Becky, I don't get it." Dean said. "Why would you do this to us? Isn't our life already difficult enough?"

"Huh?" It was Becky's turn to be confused.

"You have a gift, Becky." Dean continued. "You get to be with us all the time. Maybe not physically but spiritually, you are with us all the time. You get to see things that even we don't. Why would you cheapen it by sharing it with everyone?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Us. I'm talking about us." Dean replied. "Becky, we share a very special bond. Especially you and Sam."

"What?"

"What?" Sam was outraged.

Dean shot his brother a glare, telling him, silently, to get with the program.

"Becky, you are privy to our deepest, darkest secrets. You see our every mistake, every moment of weakness and instead of keeping them private, you show them to the entire world." Dean continued. "And let's not even think about what will happen if some demon got his hands on the book. Do you have any idea how much danger you are putting us in?"

"I – I don't think I understand what you are talking about?" Becky said, looking between the brothers.

"Dean is right." Sam said, finally catching on. "Do you realize what you are putting us through? Do you know what people are saying about us?"

"Who?" Becky asked. "Who's saying what?"

"That Sam is a stupid loser who should be hung for putting humanity at risk." Dean explained. "That in fact Sam and Dean do more harm than good and if they knew any better, they'd save the world by quitting hunting altogether."

"Who said that?" Becky snarled, her eyes flaring up in anger.

"A lot of people." Sam replied. "It's all over the internet."

"They don't know what they are talking about." Becky said vehemently. "They have no right to say such things."

"But you are giving them the right." Sam continued. "You are putting us out there to be judged and ridiculed. But you know what, we don't have a right to complain. After all, why should our feelings stand in the way of your making money?"

"No, it's not about the money." Becky defended.

"Then what is it?" Dean asked. "What is so important that you would put our private lives on display without actually caring about us?"

"I care about you guys." Becky cried. "You two are the most important people in my life."

"If you cared about us, you wouldn't do this to us." Sam replied.

Becky's eyes moved from one brother to the other, wracked with guilt. Sam and Dean could see the wheels turning in her head as she ineffectively tried to explain herself to them.

"I'm sorry, guys." Becky said, finally. "I guess, I never thought what it would do to you. I just wanted to share you guys with the world."

They looked at each-other, barely concealing their smiles at the victory. They had her now.

"Sharing us with the world wouldn't be worth it if it ends up in us getting defiled and degraded." Dean said. "Wouldn't it be much better if you kept us all to yourself?"

Five minutes later, the Winchesters walked out of the house with Becky's sincere and heartfelt apologies and the promise that she'd stop writing about them immediately. Dean gave Sam a triumphant look. They had won the day and no blood had to be spilled.

"You were really something in there, Dean." Sam told his brother as they got into the car. "You played her like anything."

"Yeah, I know." Dean replied, basking in his brother's praise. "But just to be on the safe side, let's never talk about this again. In case she overhears and starts writing again. It could get even worse than. She could totally write us doing it."

"You got it." Sam agreed. "Still, the way you put out all that doe-eyed vulnerability. You totally glamoured her. You out-gambitted her like no-one's business."

"Alright, that's it." Dean said, getting frustrated. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, confused.

"I mean, all these words you are throwing about." Dean replied. "Ho-Yay, Meta, Ascended Fangirl. It's like the two of you were talking in code back there."

"Those?" Sam replied. "Those are just some literary terms. I read about them back when I was in college and when I read these new books, it all kind of came back to me. I get that it could be a little confusing to a normal person, but try not to worry about them."

"Wow, that's not insulting at all." Dean said, a little pissed-off.

"I'm not insulting you, Dean." Sam replied.

"Aren't you?" Dean asked. "You are throwing about these words which apparently only college graduates and writers understand and you are telling me not to bother with them because they are way over my head."

"That's not what I said." Sam defended.

"You know what Sam, forget it." Dean said, turning on the car. "I thought you finally respected me enough not to patronize me with your college education. Apparently not. I guess some things never change, huh?"

Sam sighed. This was one thing that he'd never wanted to share with his brother. But how could he convince Dean that he respected him and his intelligence without coming off as patronizing? There was no other way.

"It's a website, okay?" Sam admitted. "It's called TVTropes."

"What?"

"When I said that I learned about it in college, I didn't mean a class." Sam explained. "Someone sent me a link to this website called TVTropes. It's full of all kinds of narrative devices appearing in movies, books, even real life. All the things I've been talking about are on it."

"You think I'm an idiot?" Dean replied. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"I'm telling you the truth."

"Really? So why wouldn't you tell me about this site in the first place?" Dean asked. "Why try to avoid talking about it?"

"Because it's dangerous." Sam replied. "It's dangerous and it's addictive. It's like the crack of the internet. Believe me Dean, when I first found out about it, I nearly flunked the semester. I got the lowest grades of my life during that time."

Dean gave his brother a searching look, trying to determine if his leg was being pulled. Sam met his eyes squarely, looking completely sincere. Sam was a good actor, but not that good. No one was.

"Don't you think you might be exaggerating a little, Sam?" Dean said, laughing. "A website that is more dangerous than cocaine?"

"No, Dean, I'm not." Sam replied flatly. "This thing is worse than demon blood."

"Okay, now I know that you are pulling my leg." Dean said. "Worse than demon blood? Man, I gotta check this thing out."

"You see, that is exactly why I was avoiding telling you about it." Sam said. "I knew that if you heard about it, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from looking. Which part of dangerous and addictive don't you get?"

"It can't be that bad."

"It is. Trust me Dean, it has a way of taking over your life." Sam said with conviction. "Dean, you have to promise me right now that you wouldn't look at the website."

"Give me some credit here, Sam."

"Don't trivialize this Dean." Sam said a little angrily. "Trust me on this, please. Trust me and promise me that you won't look at it."

"Jeez, fine. I promise." Dean said.

"You swear?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam. I swear on God's name that I won't look at the website called TVTropes." Dean said, faithfully holding up his hand. "There, happy now?"

Sam nodded slowly and Dean went back to driving. His brother, Dean thought fondly, he'd always been over-dramatic. Only Sam could make a stupid website sound worse than demon-blood.

* * *

Sam couldn't be sure what woke him up from his slumber, but it sounded like a giggle. That was weird. Only his brother was supposed to be in the room with him and Dean didn't giggle. Blearily opening his eyes, Sam's sight adjusted to the dim light and he saw Dean on his bed, sitting in front of the laptop.

"Dean, why are you still up?" Sam asked, rubbing his eyes. "Go to sleep."

"In a bit, Sam. I'm doing some research." Dean replied.

Sam looked at the alarm clock beside his bed. It was 4:30 in the morning.

"Research? We are not on a hunt." Sam said, confused.

"Well, I'm looking for one." Dean replied.

"At this time of night?" Sam asked, incredulously. "You are always telling me how important sleep is and you are staying up all night looking for a hunt? Especially when Bobby already called us saying he has something for us?"

"Yup. That's about right." Dean replied shortly.

"Oh God. You are not looking at porn are you?" Sam asked.

"Ofcourse not." Dean replied indignantly. "You know the rule, dude. No watching porn with other dudes in the room."

"Fine, whatever." Sam said, turning over. "Just shut it down and go to sleep, okay? We have a long day ahead of us."

"Yeah, sure." Dean said. "Just five more minutes."

Something about those words rang a bell in Sam's head. Suddenly wide awake, Sam turned back to carefully take in Dean's demeanor. And he saw it all immediately. The shifty look about Dean's posture. The sly half-smile. The glassy look in his eyes. Sam saw all the symptoms.

"No, Dean, you didn't." Sam said, horrified. "How could you? You promised me."

"Don't know what you are talking about." Dean replied, feigning innocence.

"Don't try that with me, Dean. You are on TVTropes, aren't you?" Sam asked. When he received no reply, he shouted again. "Aren't you?"

"Yes, fine, I took a look, okay?" Dean said.

"And?"

"And it's not that bad, Sammy." Dean said. "It's a funny little site but it's not addictive or dangerous."

Denial. Another one of the symptoms.

"Dean, shut down the computer, right now." Sam commanded.

"Hey, Sam, check this out." Dean said, completely ignoring his brother. "They have a whole page on Dr. Sexy. It's awesome."

"Dean, are you listening to me?" Sam shouted. "Shut down the computer. Shut it down and step away from it." He got no response. "Dean now."

"I – I can't." Dean stammered. "C'mon, Sam, I just found the page. Just give me a few more minutes, okay?"

Sam jumped out of his bed and in a flash snatched the laptop away from his brother. Ignoring Dean's desperate cry, he switched the machine off. Damn the fact that it might screw up the computer. It was his brother's mental health that was at stake here and that was more important that any laptop.

"No." Dean shouted and threw himself at his brother, pushing him aside and snatching the computer back, trying to turn it on again all the while.

Realization seemed to overwhelm Dean as he saw what he'd done. Shocked, he looked from the computer to his brother who'd fallen to the floor.

"Sam." Dean said, guiltily. "I'm – I'm so sorry."

"Do you see now, Dean?" Sam, asked, getting back up and looking at his brother harshly. "Do you see what this thing does to you?"

Dean let go of the laptop and limply fell back on the bed. Calmly Sam took his place beside his brother. It wasn't that bad, he told himself. Dean had just found the website. He'd had little time to get sucked into it. Besides, Dean was strong. His brother was stronger than him and they would beat this. Together, because this time, he'd support his brother every step of the way. Gently, Sam out a comforting hand on Dean's back and his brother turned towards him with wide eyes. Dean looked more scared and horrified than Sam had ever seen him.

"Sam." Dean said in a quiet voice. "I think I might have a problem."

The End.

* * *

That's all folks. My deepest apologies to everyone who decided to check out TVTropes after reading this fic. Know that you are not alone. And review, if you can pull yourself away from that website long enough.


End file.
